PUCO chief kept tie to influential group

Wednesday

Jan 30, 2013 at 12:01 AMJan 30, 2013 at 11:49 AM

A top state utility regulator who opposed a plan for an Ohio solar farm and openly questioned global warming maintained ties with an influential conservative group that supports repealing states' renewable-energy requirements.

A top state utility regulator who opposed a plan for an Ohio solar farm and openly questioned global warming maintained ties with an influential conservative group that supports repealing states’ renewable-energy requirements.

Todd Snitchler, chairman of the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio, was a keynote speaker at the American Legislative Exchange Council’s task-force meeting in April 2011. His state ethics filings show he attended another meeting of the council that December, nearly a year after leaving the legislature to accept Gov. John Kasich’s appointment to the commission.

It is unclear what role, if any, Snitchler’s continued involvement might have played in a model bill penned by the council that’s known as the Electricity Freedom Act. The council’s board of state legislators approved the legislation in October.

The commission that Snitchler leads is overseeing implementation of Ohio’s “25-by-25” standard, which requires power companies to get 25 percent of their electricity from alternative and advanced sources by 2025. Such standards are targeted for repeal under the legislative council’s model bill.

Todd Wynn, who leads the council’s Energy, Environment and Agriculture Task Force, said he does not know Snitchler, who was an active member of the council throughout 2009 and 2010, according to records reviewed by the Associated Press.

The council “has always been opposed to energy mandates, but in 2012, we picked up the debates on renewable-energy targets specifically,” Wynn said. He noted that repeal of Ohio’s renewable targets has been proposed before, and he said it wouldn’t surprise him if it is proposed again this session.

Holly Karg, the PUCO’s public-affairs director, said energy lobbyists attend events of the exchange council, but Snitchler was above the fray.

“He was not being lobbied at those events. He was speaking at them,” she said.

Snitchler’s financial-disclosure form indicates the commission reimbursed him for about $175 in meal expenses for the two 2011 meetings. He reported no travel costs.

Snitchler this month joined a 3-1 majority of the PUCO in rejecting American Electric Power Co.’s proposal to incorporate power from the proposed Turning Point Solar project into its renewable-energy portfolio. The vote — against the advice of the commission’s staff — was criticized as misguided by the power company, environmental advocates and Statehouse Democrats.

In its wake, Snitchler’s steady criticism of solar, wind and renewable energy on Twitter over the previous year came to light. Observers said his posts broke with a tradition of public neutrality among utility commissioners on issues they regulate.

Snitchler’s 2011 appearances at American Legislative Exchange Council events continued a pattern of regular attendance at ALEC meetings. At them, lawmakers may be lavishly entertained by corporate sponsors without publicly reporting many of the perks they receive.

Ohio House emails list Snitchler as an exchange-council member and an attendee at four of the group’s events in 2009 and 2010, when he was a state representative. The documents were obtained by ProgressOhio, a liberal policy group, through a public-records request and provided to the Associated Press.

Karg said Snitchler dropped his ALEC membership after leaving the House, but a House spokesman said Snitchler’s membership for the 2011-2012 legislative session was never revoked. It remained in effect through December.

Karg said Snitchler’s 2012 financial-disclosure form will show no further ALEC meetings.